“Witness” Katy Perry’s Departure

I fell in love with Katy Perry’s second album “One of the Boys.” It was catchy, angsty, and fun. As her third and fourth album came out I did not connect in the same way, but still found plenty of tracks that I enjoyed. The world tour for Prism concluded in October of 2015 and Perry had been relatively quiet since.

Earlier this year, I noticed that she had completely changed her look and was coming out with new music. I thought “Chained To The Rhythm” was alright, but nothing special. I failed to get excited for her album as “Swish Swish” and “Bon Appetit” came out. I began to wonder what she was doing. Forbes confirms that the single releases for this album were a dud with “Chained To The Rhythm” as the only one breaking the top 40.

Reading this New York Times interview gave me some clarity on the departure from her previous image. Perry felt that image wasn’t a reflection of her true self was no longer willing to make that compromise.

The new look and sound are her attempts to be more honest and create an image that is closer to who she really is. She sought out someone new for A&R to assist her with her vision for “Witness” and didn’t even play the new music for Capitol Records until very late in the process. It was a ballsy move that makes me admire her despite my disappointment in the album.

While I’m not a fan of this album, all things considered it’s still a success for her. The Forbes article is actually about how the album debuted at No.1 on the Billboard top 200 despite the unimpressive singles. Perry’s fan base continues to support her unconditionally.